At the end of 2009, Forbes magazine asked a team from Frog Design to Envision the Future, but only a future a short time ahead of us in 2020. Augmented reality played a big part in what the team at Frog came up with, but I think infographics played an even bigger part.

At the end of last year, Forbes magazine asked frog to help them envision the future in 2020. The day-long event led to an extensive online feature: “Your Life in 2020,” a collection of illustrated concepts and videos that envision the future of ubiquitous computing. In that future, your computer is not only incorporated into every aspect of your life but is a part of you.

I love that they included the Whuffie, a personal score system developed by Cory Doctorow.

The term “whuffie,” by the way, is a word coined by author Cory Doctorow in his book Down And Out In the Magic Kingdom. It refers to the measurement of respect or karma a person gains or looses in their lives. In Doctorow’s future, humans have implants in their brains that visually project their whuffie, which has replaced money as currency.

Reader Comments (3)

First of all... I've never heard of a Doctorow's 'whuffie', but I can believe he would would come up with something like that. Coming from an Econ. background I think his vision of the future is a little nutty.

What I really wanted to point out is the AR infographic in the fast food setting. Barring policy mandates of some sort, I don't think McDonalds and crew will be happily displaying the nutritional value of their food in a convenient infographic; and I think this is the case for a lot of merchants, even outside the fast food industry. This notion generalizes to other industry sectors as well - a little vagary can allow a merchant an opportunity to charge a higher price. However, providing that sort of information can be used as competitive leverage also.

Because I am having to build my own infographic tools to tell me the things I want/need to know about my food and my life, I'd be more willing to believe an AR infographic future built around 3rd party tools, rather than a 'infographic food tray'.

Who knows what the profit motives will be in 10 years though. Maybe (hopefully) we'll experience a revolution in our understanding of the sorts of data and analyses that modern society requires to function efficiently. I am a huge fan of data, and I like the perspective Frog Design's taken on the future - I am definitely on the same page.

Who knows what the profit motives will be in 10 years though. Maybe (hopefully) we'll experience a revolution in our understanding of the sorts of data and analysis that modern society requires to function efficiently. I am a huge fan of data, and I like the perspective Frog Design's taken on the future - I am definitely on the same page.